Mike Seiman

Newsletters January 13, 2021

No. 559: Flying saucers, supervillains and mutant viruses – are we living in an ‘X Files’ episode?

Going to be a big day: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as we brave another wintry week of socioeconomic innovation – with the fate of the Republic hanging in the balance, once again. Wish you were here: It’s Jan. 13 out there, and while out-of-control pandemics and potential revolutions continue to darken American skies, the rest of the world goes on: Liberation Day in Togo, Constitution Day in Mongolia, Democracy Day in Cape Verde…

Entrepreneurs April 28, 2020

Hofstra biz-plan contest ventures into new territory

By GREGORY ZELLER // The coronavirus couldn’t stop tradition at Hofstra University, where the regularly scheduled Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge went off without a hitch, virtually. Now in its eighth year, the business plan contest – which challenges Hofstra students to come up with new products or services and create business plans to commercialize them – held its final competition round April 24. As per custom, the penultimate pitch-off pitted 10 finalists in a winners-take-all…

Entrepreneurs March 19, 2020

All things being unequal, Hofstra’s Challenge lives on

By GREGORY ZELLER // Health equity – a concept freshly redefined by our times – takes center stage in this year’s Healthcare Entrepreneurship Community Challenge. Hofstra University’s long-running entrepreneurship competition is offering $50,000-plus in cash and business-resource prizes to early-stage enterprises addressing socialized healthcare problems in underserved Long Island, New York City and Hudson Valley communities. This year’s “challenge topic” is “advancing health equity,” focused on innovative products and services that “improve the total health…

Newsletters April 12, 2019

No. 396: Inventing spam, honoring McCall and challenging Hofstra’s entrepreneurs (plus Modern Monetary Theory, in color)

It’s Friday the 12th: And there’s nothing to fear, dear readers, as we reach the end of this latest springtime workweek and welcome another well-earned weekend. Rocket man: Today is Cosmonautics Day in Russia, the International Day of Human Space Flight and, in many countries, Yuri’s Night – all commemorating Vostok 1, the first manned spaceflight in human history, which blasted off April 12, 1961. The short spaceshot carried Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin through…

Awards and Events February 19, 2019

Community wellness wins in Hofstra’s 2019 ‘Challenge’

By GREGORY ZELLER // Roughly $60,000 in cash and prizes is up for grabs in an ambitious Hofstra University competition designed to improve health, wellness and socioeconomic conditions in underserved communities throughout Greater New York. The 2019 Healthcare Entrepreneurship Community Challenge is now accepting innovative proposals for “market-based products or services” that can improve wellness in communities stretching from Long Island to New York City to the Hudson Valley, according to Hofstra. The theme for…

Mergers & Acquisitions April 17, 2018

Digital Remedy merger, new COO microcast a wider net

By GREGORY ZELLER // From the Growing in More Ways Than One File comes Digital Remedy, a New York City digital advertiser with a Long Island pedigree, an impressive new acquisition and its first-ever chief operations officer. The white-labeled ad operations and sales solution for publishers, advertisers and influencers announced Tuesday that it has acquired CrowdHere, a San Francisco-based “curated collective of new media filmmakers and creative futurists” that gives Digital Remedy a key new…

Awards and Events March 30, 2018

Ten finalists to shoot for Hofstra-Digital Remedy gold

By GREGORY ZELLER // Ten finalists – including eight solo acts and two team efforts – will square off for three top slots (and more than $70,000 in prizes and working capital) when the 2018 Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge hosts its final showdown April 20. The finalists were selected by a panel of esteemed judges during the semifinal round of the annual business plan pitch-a-thon, held this week at the Hofstra University Center for Entrepreneurship’s…

Entrepreneurs April 18, 2017

Venture Challenge: Innovators dazzle, CountryBox soars

By GREGORY ZELLER // An e-commerce website pitched by a trio of undergraduate students walked off with top honors, and a hefty $20,000 check, in Tuesday’s final round of the Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge Series. Envisioned by Class of 2017 seniors Henry Crayton, Rory Murphy and Lerthon Theuma, CountryBox – designed to bring “care packages” from the old country to expats living abroad – edged out nine other finalists in the annual student business-plan competition….

Entrepreneurs April 3, 2017

Something ventured, lots to gain in Hofstra ‘Challenge’

By GREGORY ZELLER // It’s a new name but the same entrepreneurial spirit, as Hofstra University hurtles toward the final round of its latest Venture Challenge. Now dubbed the Hofstra-Digital Remedy Venture Challenge Series, the annual student business-plan competition comes to a head April 18, with 10 teams vying for $40,000 in prizes, including a $20,000 top prize. The competition is the brainchild of Hofstra alum Mike Seiman, founder and CEO of New York City-based…

News April 21, 2016

Bionic hand, big stare top Hofstra pitch challenge

By GREGORY ZELLER // A 3D-printed bionic hand and a digital-age update on the classic “staring contest” were the big winners Thursday at the Hofstra University CPXi Venture Challenge. The annual student business plan competition – sponsored by the university and Hofstra graduate Mike Seiman, founder and CEO of New York City-based digital media company CPXi – doled out $50,000 through a series of mini-competitions and Thursday’s final round, in which six graduate student-level finalists…

Education December 18, 2015

Hofstra revamps its student pitch program

The CPXi Challenge has returned to Hofstra University – slightly tweaked, in hopes of involving and inspiring a greater number of innovative thinkers. Hofstra graduate and trustee Mike Seiman, founder and CEO of New York City-based digital media company CPXi, has once again ponied up $100,000 in prize money for the annual challenge. But this year, instead of one contest with a $50,000 grand prize and chunky five-digit runner-up awards, the challenge will be broken…

Education April 20, 2015

Hofstra’s CPXi pitch challenge nears finals

Hofstra University is shaking up this year’s CPXi Venture Tech Challenge, a $100,000 student business-plan contest that’s touted as one of the richest in the country. Now in its third year, the challenge offers students the chance to pitch new products or services with hopes of winning $50,000 in seed funding, or smaller amounts for finishing in the top five. New for 2015: The judges will be entering the April 29 finals without prior knowledge…